The value of new business completed was up by 6% to £98m in the month while the number of new agreements rose by 5% to 2,162, both compared to July 2017.

In the twelve-month period ending in July both the value of new business and number of new agreements rose by 4%.

The first half of 2018 was punctuated by significant falls in monthly activity during March and June – with the value of business and number of deals completed both down.

This has been reflected in the rolling three-month totals for new business value and transactions which were largely stable compared to the same three months last year.

FLA head of consumer and mortgage finance Fiona Hoyle (pictured) said: “The second charge mortgage market made a positive start to the third quarter, with new business in July up 6% by value and 5% by volume.

“The number of new agreements in this market grew by 2% in the first seven months of 2018, in line with expectations of modest single-digit growth in 2018 overall.”

July also saw significant growth in credit card and car finance, according to FLA figures.

Car finance grew 11% to £2.89bn while credit cards and personal loans also rose by 11% to £4.5bn.